Cognitive Interpretation of Translator’s Subjectivity from the Perspective of Iconicity: Based on English Versions of Chinese Chapter Titles in Hong Lou Meng
Translation is a practical activity involving the author, the translator and the reader. Based on the
iconicity theory of Cognitive Linguistics, this paper first analyzes the translator’s subjectivity and argues that
there are two processes in the translation, namely, the construal of source text and translation practice. In the
process of construal, the subjectivity of the translator is hidden to highlight the author’s text in order to construe
the semantics and source language iconicity of the source text as much as possible; in the process of practice,
the translator’s subjectivity is prominent, so the translator adopts the translation method which is iconic to the
source language or the target language. Based on the English versions of the chapter titles in Hong Lou Meng and
the iconicity theory, this paper explores the realization of the translator’s subjectivity and concludes that Yang
Xianyi’s translation is the representative of alienation, and its subjectivity is not salient, while Hawkes’ translation
embodies domestication which shows much stronger subjectivity.